


You take your time

by tekhartha



Category: Pacific Rim (2013)
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Pet Names, Science Husbands
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-30
Updated: 2014-01-30
Packaged: 2018-01-10 13:00:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,474
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1160017
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tekhartha/pseuds/tekhartha
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Newt doesn't call Hermann by his name too often, at least not his full name. Usually it's 'Herm', Herms' or 'Hermie', but lately he started using pet names. He does it jokingly at first, to tease his colleague, to annoy him. At some point it turned into something different and Newton isn't sure what exactly it is, all he knows is that Hermann doesn't mind any more and that Newt means the pet names.</p>
            </blockquote>





	You take your time

Newt doesn't call Hermann by his name too often, at least not his full name. Usually it's 'Herm', Herms' or 'Hermie', but lately he started using pet names. He does it jokingly at first, to tease his colleague, to annoy him. At some point it turned into something different and Newton isn't sure what exactly it is, all he knows is that Hermann doesn't mind any more and that Newt means the pet names.

So when they're having lunch at the mess hall one day and Newton says “Can you hand me the peas, babe?” and Hermann does without a word, Tendo almost chokes on his steak. The two scientists just stare at him with concerned looks, until he stops coughing and speaks up.

“Did you just call him 'babe'??” He hectically points at Hermann and raises his eyebrows at Newt. Hermann freezes momentarily and stares at his almost empty plate, trying to hide his embarrassment over the fact, that he doesn't mind the ridiculous Dr. Newton Geiszler calling him 'babe'. Next to him, Newt flashes Tendo a grin around a mouthful of mashed potatoes. He has the decency to actually swallow before he says, “Yeah, I might have... why? Are you jealous?”. He winks and shoves another piece of steak into his mouth.

Tendo laughs humourlessly and shakes his head. He seems to decide, that he doesn't really know what to say and turns back to his steak too.

 

~~~~~

 

There are no kaiju attacks for a few weeks and Marshal Pentecoast allows Hermann to pay a university in Tokyo a visit to meet up with some scientists. At first Newt is annoyed, because he wants to go too and then he's scared Hermann might fall in love with a handsome Japanese mathematician, who isn't chaotic and wears skinny jeans. He'd never mention any of these things to Hermann, especially since he isn't exactly in any position to think that way, but he still tries to make his discomfort about Hermann's trip as clear as possible. His colleague just smiles and pats him on the shoulder.

“I'm confident you can survive a few days without me, Newton.” he says and vanishes through a door into the plane.

 

~~~~~

 

Mako offers to drive Newt to the airport to pick Hermann up. Of course he says yes and thanks her at least twenty times.

He anxiously hops up and down with his hands shoved into his pockets and stares intently at the door labelled 'exit'. Hermann's flight landed fifteen minutes ago and by now the first travellers come through the narrow door and hug the people expecting them. Should he hug Hermann? Is Hermann going to hug him? Probably not. The door opens once more and the first thing Newt sees is the dorky haircut. His friend looks exactly like a week ago, which isn't surprising, considering that he has looked like this the past ten years, but Newton still feels himself releasing his breath. He smiles as Hermann approaches and when they're still about twenty metres apart, Newt yells “Welcome home, honey!”.

Hermann's face turns bright scarlet and Mako chuckles into her fist. Looking around, Newton notices several people staring at him and Hermann, who has almost reached him by now, but he couldn't care less. The other man seems to think differently, since he gives Newt a smack on the leg with his cane. It doesn't really hurt, but he still yells “Ow!”, even if it's just to make Hermann feel bad for what he did. And then he thinks _What the hell!_ and actually does hug Hermann, just because he wants to. Hermann even hugs back, just for a second though.

 

~~~~~

 

At some point Hermann starts using pet names too. Nothing like 'baby', but things like 'darling' or 'dear' and Newton's heart almost stops every time he hears those. Stupid heart.

 

~~~~~

 

They somehow cancel the apocalypse and drift together while doing so. The drift is awesome and he understands Hermann much better than before, but he didn't really get many of his recent memories and emotions, so that's kind of disappointing. It's not like it matters, but Newt was actually hoping to uncover how Hermann feels about him.

The party at LOCCENT leaves the scientists tipsy and extremely tired and they both end up in Hermann's bed. Right before he falls asleep, Newt slurs, “Thanks for saving the world with me, babe.”

He can feel Hermann smiling against his neck, when he replies silently, “It was my pleasure, love.”

 

~~~~~

 

There are two brown envelopes in their mail a few weeks later and they turn out to be copies of their personal files from the PPDC. There is a note from Marshal Hansen pinned to them.

 

_I'm sending everyone their files because we're throwing them out and I thought you might like to take a look at them. I hope you two are as lovey-dovey as ever._

 

_Marshal H. Hansen_

 

They are sitting next to each other on their brand new couch in their also brand new shared apartment.

“What on earth does he mean with 'lovey-dovey'?” Hermann frowns at the letter and Newt grins amused.

“He is probably referring to the fact, that everyone in the Hong Kong Shatterdome thought we were a couple.”

“Excuse me?”

“Wait, you didn't know that? Oh, well, it's true though! Go ahead and ask Mako or Tendo or something...”

Hermann just gapes at him for a moment, his mouth hanging open. He shakes his head slightly and goes back to frowning at the letter, when he finally looks back at Newton, he wears his I'm-still-confused-but-very-angry expression and Newt ducks his head even before he speaks.

“You knew about this rumour and you didn't do anything against it? You could have told me at least, but no, what does Dr. Geiszler do? He pretends it's true. Well done, Newton, thank you for ruining my reputation.” He gets up and limps out of their living room and towards his bedroom.

“Hermann, wait, no- please, let me ex- I was just.... I thought that even if I told them, they wouldn't believe me anyway! I mean, what the hell, look at us! We're bickering like an old couple and calling each other pet names. I'm sorry, okay? I thought you knew... I'm sorry, Hermann, really.”

Hermann nods slowly and drops down on the couch again. They sit in silence for a minute, their thighs pressed together thanks to the lack of space on the tiny sofa.

“Fine. … So, you honestly think we seem like a couple to other people?” Hermann asks cautiously.

“Yeah, totally.” Newt replies without thinking about the question.

“Hmm...” Hermann stares straight ahead, his brow furrowed.

“What?”

“I was just wondering... are we a couple?” The calmness in Hermann's voice makes Newton almost wonder whether he understood his friend correctly.

“W-What are y- I don't know, I mean... that depends on your definition of couple, I guess...”

“Two people who love each other share a romantic relationship.” Is Hermann's immediate answer.

“Well, there isn't any romance in our relationship? But apart from that...”

“... You love me?” He shoots Newton a surprised look, but quickly looks away again to hide his blush.

“Uhm, yeah, I do. And just to clarify: in a totally non-platonic way.” Newt feels his cheeks burn too and he is terribly scared he might just have made the worst mistake in his whole life. If Hermann doesn't love him, he probably won't want to see him ever again. It takes Hermann way too long to answer and the thoughts of rejection make Newt's head feel like it's about to explode. His heart seems to pump about 900% faster than usually too, which doesn't make the silence hanging between them any more bearable either. The answer Hermann eventually gives him, isn't exactly what Newton expected.

“Since when?”

They stare at each other and Newton says, “For about, uhhh, five years...?!”

Hermann's shoulders slump and Newt thinks _Shit._ , but isn't prepared for his friend's next words.

“Fuck, why didn't I tell you?”

“...Tell me what?”

“That I've been in love with you for the past six years.”

Newton stares at him totally speechless. After a moment, he takes Hermann's face in his hands and kisses him senselessly. Hermann responds by grabbing Newton's hips and pulling him into his lap, which Newt finds pretty hot.

“So, you are telling me, that we could have made out on the couch in the lab for the past five years?” Newton breathes heavily between kisses.

“It would seem like it.” Hermann breathes back. “Although I doubt we would have been able to save the world in that case.”

Newt laughs and reaches up to brush a stand of Hermann's hair back into place. “That's probably true. But hey, now we can make out on our own couch forever, babe.”

“Indeed, darling.”

 

**Author's Note:**

> I found this on my computer... I probably wrote it VERY late at night haha


End file.
